(see"Busted!" March 09, 2012).
The state's sole witness this morning is a proven liar who only three months ago was unanimously found guilty of willfully misrepresenting the truth in direct relation to her assigned responsibilities as a licensed professional! It is seemingly never-ending! At every stage of my ongoing interactions with and reliance upon the Arizona Department of Health Services/Behavioral Health Services, I run into new displays of systemic ineptitude and utter insult to my simplest ideas of common humankind.
Imagine my shock today when the judge asked the state's key witness to introduce herself, and I heard the name of the same woman who was recently punished by the Arizona Board Of Behavioral Health Examiners for violating the professional standards of her field. I didn't even know for certain whether or not this person still had her job after being nailed in March for telling lies while on the clock, and then that suddenly, there she was, like an ill-conceived female pirate resurrected from the bowels of New York City's East River and speaking in person on behalf of the integrity of The Arizona State Hospital. Only at ASH, I tell you, only at ASH....
And bad enough that this witness wasn't included in this legal proceeding until after the hearing was convened this morning, too! Which I immediately took issue with, but the judge told me:
"It is standard procedure in these hearings for the appellee to introduce their witnesses at the actual time of hearing, and not before; and you, the appellant, will then be granted the opportunity to cross examine the witness once the appellee has concluded their presentation."
Therein, it bubbles: The inescapable insanity of the Arizona mental health care system itself raised its spiked head again, and there was absolutely nothing I could do in terms of rejecting the state's willingness to continue with their well established violations of commonly established standards of conduct and legal procedure. I had to allow for this surprise witness to take the stand and spin her yarns, but nonetheless, when I cross examined this person, I chose not to call her out on her recently proven willingness to violate the standards of her licensure as a so-called "behavioral health examiner." I somewhat regret that I didn't take the woman to task on this fact, but I am also relieved to know that at least I am still human. As such, I typically am not one to aggressively attack another person's character, even if they are a person who was recently held accountable for having violated his or her duties to the citizens of this state; and what's more, I would probably risk violating confidentiality rules when it comes to these sorts of court hearings, were I to name witnesses at this time (these rat bastards will come after me any way that they can in order to try and suppress my ongoing dedication to exposing the rampant patient abuse at ASH, and beyond in the state system, so I must be cautious at times).
But this person's professional misconduct is no sort of secret. It is, in fact, public knowledge, and I have already outed her in one of my earlier articles, anyway.
Therein, it bubbles: The inescapable insanity of the Arizona mental health care system itself raised its spiked head again, and there was absolutely nothing I could do in terms of rejecting the state's willingness to continue with their well established violations of commonly established standards of conduct and legal procedure. I had to allow for this surprise witness to take the stand and spin her yarns, but nonetheless, when I cross examined this person, I chose not to call her out on her recently proven willingness to violate the standards of her licensure as a so-called "behavioral health examiner." I somewhat regret that I didn't take the woman to task on this fact, but I am also relieved to know that at least I am still human. As such, I typically am not one to aggressively attack another person's character, even if they are a person who was recently held accountable for having violated his or her duties to the citizens of this state; and what's more, I would probably risk violating confidentiality rules when it comes to these sorts of court hearings, were I to name witnesses at this time (these rat bastards will come after me any way that they can in order to try and suppress my ongoing dedication to exposing the rampant patient abuse at ASH, and beyond in the state system, so I must be cautious at times).
But this person's professional misconduct is no sort of secret. It is, in fact, public knowledge, and I have already outed her in one of my earlier articles, anyway.
For now, then, I will let the record speak for itself. By the time the nearly 2 1/2 hour proceeding came to an end, I feel that it was pretty clear who was following the rules, and who wasn't; and all told, I believe that I stated my case pretty thoroughly. As frustrating as it was to feel unprepared due to the state's radically disproportionate power over these proceedings, I am willing to patiently wait out the 20 day period of time that the judge has to issue her recommendation in this matter, for there is plenty to do in the meantime, and who knows, maybe the judge's recommendation will be a positive one, in light of the given circumstances. Stranger things have happened in the history of the universe.
ONE POINT OF NOTE: A central component of my appeal today revolved around the failure of the assigned department of heath investigator to meet very well established time line requirements, because the original freaking incident that I reported occurred almost one full year ago, and I definitely clarified this matter to the court at various junctures of my presentation. And the, in his last dying breath closing statement, the ghoulish assistant attorney general representing the Hospital and the state, Joel Rudd, had the classically revolting audacity to declare that I had "failed to show how (my) allegations concerning the timeliness of this investigative process had detrimentally affected (me) at the time that these events occurred," which was in blatant defiance of very clear statements that I had already made about how seriously my suicidal ideation and general depression was aggravated during the entirety of this sequence of events. Indeed, I told the court in no uncertain terms that in the 4-6 weeks following this very unsettling sequenced of events, my consideration(s) of why in the hell I should maintain an active willingness to continue engaging in treatment at ASH was so deeply effected at the time that I actually began looking at ways to kill myself there at ASH. This is something that I discussed at the time with my therapist, and how in the hell it is that a representative of the Attorney Generals Office can even try to get away with diagnosing my feelings and experiences in relation to these matters is beyond understanding. Substandard mental health care and related administrative tomfoolery, through and through.
In closing, I am really tired. I was up very late into the night preparing my opening and closing statements, and even then I didn't sleep well, for I dread having to meet these devils in person. Even telephonically, Joel Rudd's voice sent chills up my spine. The one or two times that I encountered this man during my 13 full months of hospitalization at ASH, he refused to look me in the eye, and in my countless observations of him as he moved back and forth from his office there at ASH and the on-site court room, he maintained this countenance at all times, without a smile or so much as a friendly glance to anyone other than his associates and secretaries, looking more like a mortician on his way home from an unsuccessful embalming than a public servant.
In closing, I am really tired. I was up very late into the night preparing my opening and closing statements, and even then I didn't sleep well, for I dread having to meet these devils in person. Even telephonically, Joel Rudd's voice sent chills up my spine. The one or two times that I encountered this man during my 13 full months of hospitalization at ASH, he refused to look me in the eye, and in my countless observations of him as he moved back and forth from his office there at ASH and the on-site court room, he maintained this countenance at all times, without a smile or so much as a friendly glance to anyone other than his associates and secretaries, looking more like a mortician on his way home from an unsuccessful embalming than a public servant.
The Arizona State Hospital, in a nutshell. Let's put an end to patient abuse. Now.
paoloreed@gmail.com
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I would really love input of any kind from anybody with any interest whatsoever in the issues that I am sharing in this blog. I mean it, anybody, for I will be the first one to admit that I may be inaccurately depicting certain aspects of the conditions
at ASH, and anonymous comments are fine. In any case, I am more than willing to value anybody's feelings about my writing, and I assure you that I will not intentionally exploit or otherwise abuse your right to express yourself as you deem fit. This topic is far, far too important for anything less. Thank you, whoever you are. Peace and Frogs.